Trotskyism

American  

[trot-skee-iz-uhm] / ˈtrɒt skiˌɪz əm /

noun

1. the form of Communism advocated by Leon Trotsky, based on an immediate, worldwide revolution by the proletariat.

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Trotskyism British  

/ ˈtrɒtskɪˌɪzəm /

noun

1. the theory of Communism developed by Trotsky, in which he called for immediate worldwide revolution by the proletariat

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Trotskyism Cultural  

1. The doctrines of the twentieth-century Russian political leader Leon Trotsky, who believed that communism should depend on the cooperation of the proletariats (see also proletariat) of all nations rather than on domination by the Soviet Union. Trotsky's ideas were opposed by Joseph Stalin, the Soviet premier, who sent Trotsky into exile, made him a nonperson, and eventually had him assassinated.

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Other Word Forms

• Trotskyist noun

Etymology

Origin of Trotskyism

First recorded in 1920–25; Trotsky + -ism

Example Sentences

As a politics student, he opposed France's war with independence fighters in Algeria and flirted with Trotskyism.

From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026

Paranoia about Trotskyism was then endemic among Communists—Trotsky believed that revolution should be fostered in all countries, and Stalin loathed him—and few were more paranoid than Marty.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 18, 2016

Hitchens was, not for the first time, drawing on the conceptual repertoire of his quondam Trotskyism to justify his stance.

From The Guardian • Jan. 18, 2013

Others are going to write about his political journey from Trotskyism, or about his public atheism, or about his loathing for Henry Kissinger and Mother Teresa.

From Slate • Dec. 16, 2011

Nevertheless, the drive against Negro Trotskyism went on, though I was too remote from it to know what was happening.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright